Ramesh Vinayakam (born 7 July 1963) is an Indian composer, arranger, singer, songwriter, music producer, and a music researcher.
Early life
Ramesh Vinayakam was born Ramasubramaniam (AKA Ramsubbu) to Tamil parents Vinayakam and Valli.
He went to A. M. Jain College and later graduated in commerce from the University of Madras. He learned
Carnatic music from Rukmini Ramani and Western classical music from Jacob John, completed his studies at the Trinity College, London with a diploma.
Ramesh is very popular for his musical, oratorical talents and has won many competitions in the school and college. He held Secretary-Fine Arts in his alma mater – A M Jain College, Meenambakkam, Chennai (erstwhile Madras). Though initially he was a singer in his younger days, he has taken to composing like fish to water as both his parents are singers/composers, it is in his genes. By the time he completed his college he had already composed many songs for various situations along with his poet-friend Narayanan. He had a brief stint as a manager in his father's friend's firm, and he understood that his real ambition is to become a music composer instead of working in an office, as he used to compose/write pieces of music.
He decided to pursue his dream when he got a chance to meet S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, through a friend who introduced him to the legend.
Career
Composing
In 1986, Ramesh Vinayakam's first album
Prathidhvani was released.
The album was a compilation of devotional songs on 10 deities, all sung by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam.
Three years later, director Moulee offered him a Telugu film,
Paila Pacheesu and made him a music director.
He worked with Moulee on two more films,
Manchi Roju (1991) and
Aunty (1995) starring
Shobana and
Jayasudha, respectively.
Subsequently, he would again look for work and approach various producers and directors. Vinayakam recalls that "nothing happened" thereafter and calling it a "long and frustrating period".
In 2002, director
Vasanth eventually signed him as one of the five composers for his next romantic musical
Hey! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukke. Ramesh Vinayakam's contribution to the ensemble soundtrack was the song "Thottu Thottu" that was also sung by him.
The same year he composed for the film
University that was his first full-fledged project in Tamil.
in its review wrote that the soundtrack album was "very strong on melody" and "definitely worth a listen".
Although the film was a box office bomb, Vinayakam has said he was glad that
University had happened, since it fetched him his next project
Nala Damayanthi (2003),
his most notable film till date. Written and produced by
Kamal Haasan, it featured Madhavan in the lead. For the film, he further made Haasan sing an English song in the
country music.
Vinayakam then composed the score and songs for
Radha Mohan's maiden feature film
Azhagiya Theeye and
Jerry written by
Crazy Mohan. He received positive critical response for his work in
Azhagiya Theeye in particular.
Aside from film, Vinayakam has primarily worked on devotional music. He composed his first devotional song at age 12.
His upcoming projects include the English remake of A Wednesday, titled A Common Man directed by Sri Lankan filmmaker Chandran Rutnam and starring Ben Kingsley,
Playback singing
Ramesh Vinayakam is a notable singer, too. While he has sung songs in all his Tamil films, he has also sung playback for other composers. Under
Harris Jayaraj's direction, he had performed the song "Yaaridamum" from the film
Thotti Jaya (2005). He has lent his voice for songs from the films
Bhaiyaa, the dubbed Telugu version of the film
Malaikottai, and the low budget flick
Kadhal Valarthen, which had music by singer Srinivas. In 2010, he sang the number "Sada Siva" from the Telugu film
Khaleja for composer
Mani Sharma. Although the film did not fare well, the song became popular and Vinayakam along with N. C. Karunya, who co-sang the song, went on to win several accolades, including the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer – Telugu.
In 2012, he sang the song "Stop The Pattu" from
Moondru Per Moondru Kaadhal for composer Yuvan Shankar Raja.
Gamaka box
Ramesh Vinayakam has been working for several years on a so-called "Gamaka box" or Gamaka Box Notation System (GBNS), a way to visually represent and
musical notation the gamaka, which is a type of ornamentation in Indian classical music. Notation of gamakams is generally not found in the Indian music system and Vinayakam's attempt was seen as a possible breakthrough and revolution in carnatic music.
He has obtained patent for the Gamaka box notation.
New ragas
Over the course of his career, he has composed ten distinct
, each with its unique melodic structure and emotional expression. Among these ragas are Prathidwani, Madya Mohanam, and Dwi Niroshtra. He is working on creating a raga incorporates microtonal swarasthana, named "Sruti Ranjani".
He created a raaga named by him as
Beethovanapriya. The raga is based on Für Elise by
Beethoven.
Discography
As composer
- Films
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| composed 1 song "Thottu Thottu" |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Soundtrack release, film unreleased |
| |
| Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director |
| |
- Television
As playback singer
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| also sang the Tamil version; Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer – Telugu |
| |
| |
| Co-singers: Karthik, Haricharan, Velmurugan |
| |
| |
Devotional albums
-
Prathidhvani (1986)
-
Sambo Mahadeva (1990)
-
Krishna Janardhana (1993)
-
Aha Oho Ayyappa (1996)
-
Vetrivel Sivasakthivel (2002)
-
Moksha Mantra of Lord Shiva (2005)
-
SriRama Dootam (2009)
External links
